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Socialists win Greek general elections
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-05 09:13

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) led by George Papandreou won Sunday's general elections in Greece with a wide margin that allows the formation of a majority government, according to the first official results.

PASOK under Papandreou, who follows in the steps of his father and grandfather and will become prime minister for the first time, is expected to gain 43.8 percent of the votes that amounts to 160 of the 300-seats parliament, the Interior Ministry estimates.

"We call upon all Greeks and the progressive forces to join forces in order to change course for the benefit of Greece. Nothing will be easy, but together we can and we will face the problems," Papandreou said in his first statement after the announcement of the preliminary results.

The former foreign minister already received congratulatory phone calls for the landslide victory from many foreign leaders, including US President Barack Obama, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias.

The conservative New Democracy party (ND) with Costas Karamanlis as its leader, who has served two times as prime minister the past five and half years, is expected to receive 33.8 percent of the national vote that gives it 92 seats. It is a historic low for the party since its founding three decades ago.

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Acknowledging his responsibility for the result which is due to his handling of the economic crisis and the scandals that plagued ND, Karamanlis announced that he will resign from the party's leadership. He congratulated Papandreou, wishing every success for the country.

The Communist Party of Greece remains the third party in parliament, winning 7.6 percentage of votes that amounts to 21 seats.

Far right People's Orthodox Rally is estimated to receive 5.6 percent of votes, winning 15 seats in parliament.

Coalition of the Radical Left is expected to receive 4.5 percent of votes that gives the party 12 seats in parliament.

Green Ecologists party is expected to receive 2.5 percent of votes, but will fail to enter parliament due to the 3 percent threshold required by electoral law.